Covid-19 Update

In the last few days schools have received further updated advice around students that are unwell. Please read the following carefully.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, loss of taste, and loss of smell), even mild symptoms, should not be at school. If your child displays these symptoms, they should go and have a Covid-19 test. If your child is sent home from school for displaying these symptoms they will be required to have a negative result provided to the school before they can return to school.

If, after testing negative, the person has ongoing symptoms which persist beyond 10 days, the person should arrange to see their doctor.  The medical assessment should consider whether the symptoms are typical for that person (for example seasonal, allergic rhinitis), and provide documentation for the school if this is the case.  If there are new symptoms at any time, the person should be tested again.

Unfortunately, hay fever and Coronavirus both frequently result in a runny nose, sniffles and a cough.   If your child suffers from hay fever, please ensure that they are not sent to school if they are displaying symptoms that could potentially be related to Covid-19.  Management of this rather common condition is going to be very important this year.  It would be ideal if students who suffer from hay fever are taken to the doctor, in the first instance, and provided with a Medical Certificate that confirms that they suffer from this condition.  The development of a preventative treatment plan, to reduce the incidence of hay fever, and the establishment of effective treatment medication will also assist our students reduce the incidence of symptoms which might result in a need for the school to send students home.  Parents are also asked to provide the school with prescribed medication (Telfast/Zyrtec/ what works for your child etc) and the associated approval form (please contact the office before bringing medication to school) to enable us to administer treatment medication should the student experience an attack while at school.  In this way, the student can be given medication to remove/reduce the symptoms and potentially eliminate the need for students to be sent home. We really do understand how frustrating this is, but as we are not Doctors, all we can do is act on current advice from the Department and send students home if they are unwell and insist that they cannot return unless they have a Covid-19 test and a negative result.  If we have medical confirmation that the student has the condition and a treatment plan then we can exercise some discretion.  Without this, we are required to insist that students are sent home and not return until tested and cleared each time symptoms are observed.

COVID-19 testing for students with complex health or disability may be challenging. In these situations, we ask the parent/carer to have their child assessed by their medical practitioner. Where a medical practitioner determines that a COVID-19 test is not indicated, a medical certificate must be provided to the school to confirm that the student does not have symptoms that warrant a COVID-19 test. The certificate must also indicate that the student is able to return to the school environment.

SASS Recognition Week

In every school the most underrated roles is the support staff at a school. These are the ladies in the office, support staff in classrooms and the General Assistant. Our SASS staff at PHPS do an absolutely fabulous job every single day contributing to the running of our school to allow everyone to work towards improving student outcomes. They are on the front line, support everything we do to support the children and without them we would all be lost. We will be acknowledging the staff individually this week in our small way but if you need to contact the school in the near future please take the time to thank these people. Thank you Joanne, Chris, Donna, Dearne, Vrinda, Julia, Kalindi, Laurie, Dominic, Sue and Mark. Your contributions to our school are valued each and every day and on behalf of the entire school community I thank you.

Thank You

Kind Regards

Mr Matt Pinchbeck

Principal

Principal Awards

K-2 = Ezekial M, Jayne K, Megan N, Zayd M, Lilly N, Isabelle D, Quinton L, Reyansh S

3-6 = Kelsey C, Josiah M

Science Week

Last week was Science week at Pennant Hills Public School and I challenged students to create a vessel that could transport Emma the Explorer and Sammy the Seal, two Lego Duplo characters to cross the bearing sea (a tub of water). K-2 students were asked to create a floating vessel that could withstand some waves and 3-6 were asked to create a submersible. There were some magnificent entries, but more importantly, the discussion with the students about their design process, the materials they chose, their trials and re-designs, was the key to a successful STEM challenge. Using vocabulary like buoyancy, submersible, mass, volume, gravity, floatation, partially immersed, fluid, propulsion, liquid, solids and force demonstrate their understanding of connectedness between Science, Mathematics and Engineering as well as English language. We had propellers, metal locks, lots of drink containers, jars, marbles, straws, bike pumps, sand, blu-tak, sticky tape and rubber bands to name a few materials. Each entry was very different from the last, such unique designs! Well done Penno engineers! I will be announcing the K-2 winner at assembly this week and the 3-6 winner at assembly next week. Thank you to all of the students who thought about, discussed and created an entry for this challenge and to the families who supported them and continued the discussion at home.

Google Tools

Recently, some of our wonderful teaching staff have opted to participate in additional Professional Learning around STEM and utilising Digital Technology to embed engaging and authentic experiences into their learning programs for the students. Below is a picture of Mrs Krivohlavy and Miss Martin team-teaching a lesson using the Google 3D tool to engage students in a collaborative writing task. I walked in at the perfect time where students were so excited at creating a short text together to describe the scenario that you can view on the screen – a T-Rex coming after them in the playground!

The text reads; “Munching down my scrumptious recess, I felt the ground shudder, thump, thump, thump! Suddenly from over the hill, a terrifying, scaly, large-toothed T-Rex approached the field ferociously ROAR!! His stale, smelly breath created a cloud of dust as children began to scream manically. Well done 2M!

You can access these tools at home on your smartphone. It is called AR (Augmented Reality) for Google. you simply type the name of an animal, dinosaur, cellular structure, as examples and scroll down to the button that says ‘View in 3D’. Some of the items you can encounter include;

https://9to5google.com/2020/08/21/google-3d-animals-list/

Thank You

Kind Regards

Mrs Kate Wasson

Deputy Principal

School Photographs 2020

21 September – Sibling Photos

22 September - Class Photos

25 September – Group Photos

All sibling and class photographs will be ordered online through The School Photographer, please see the flyer below for the website and code for our school.

The Group Photo code will be in the newsletter closer to the day.

Yesterday, 1R, 2M and 2W visited Muogamarra Nature Reserve which is located between Cowan and the Hawkesbury River. This excursion is run by Gibberagong Environmental Education Centre. The sun was shining, the flowers were blossoming and the kids were very excited! The students worked in three different groups and observed Indigenous bush food, animal habitats and how to preserve them, stories passed down through generations, rock engravings and evidence of an old convict road. We had the chance to look closely at Angophora, Banksia and Waratah plants. Today 2C, 1/2H and 1D are attending and tomorrow 1S and 1E will attend. I am sure the rest of Stage 1 will have a fantastic time full of rich and engaging learning experiences.

Last Thursday, K-2 had a Teddy Bears Picnic. As we were unable to hold a picnic on the grass, classes across the K-2 site completed lots of fun activities. They read teddy bear stories, wrote stories about a lost teddy bear, completed maths activities based on teddy bears and even did a STEM challenge where they built a chair for a teddy bear. In the afternoon, the teddy bears took part in relay races during sport. 

​It was brilliant to see all of the students engaged in learning with their teddy bears by their sides. 

KD – William A, Jenna K, Maggie R, Henry J

KH – Reuben L, Eleanor P, Dylan H, Evie B

KP – Shriya I, Nathanael C, Logan S, Henley W

K/1R – Natalie S, Asher M, Frankie S, Marcus T

1D – Tommy J, Matilda S, Audrey W 

1E – Rina B, Luc P, Kayden C, Myat T, Fred K, Jairus E

1S – Anamarie A, Eleanor T, Tyler D,  Millie V, Selena R, Christian Z

1/2H – Nathalie H, Zoe C, Emily W,  Ella K, Ashley H, Hayden Y

2C – Alex Y, Zachary C, Amity G, Penelope K, Gemma D, Avy S

2M – Lilly N, Aryan D, Zayd M

2W – Willow H, Jacqui Z, Chloe H, Hannah R, Darcy W, Abi W

COMPUTERS 

Eloise K - KP, Morgan F - KD, Lachlan H - 1D, Kayden C - 1E, Austin D - 2W, Zoe C - 1/2H, Joanna A - KH, Lachlan W - K/1R, Lucy K - 1D, Christian Z - 1S, Jacqui Z - 2W, Angus M - 2W

EAL/D 

Letitia J - 1S, Amira R - 1S, Rina B - 1E

MUSIC

Jayne K - 2M, Karina C - 2W

National Science Week saw the launch of a very exciting student-driven initiative, The Coding Club spearheaded by Kanj P and Sebastian C from 4G. They were supported by Ms Gifford and Mrs Maddison. Sebastian and Kanj have both been interested in coding for years, and they explain a little about Scratch.

What is Scratch?

Scratch is a block-based visual programming language and website targeted primarily at children. It has an online community that encourages collaboration and exploration by helping users think creatively and use reason to work on projects.

Sebastian and Kanj came up with the idea of creating a club in Term 2 and wrote a letter to Mr Pinchbeck with the help and encouragement of Ms Gifford. After a bit of negotiation and the decision to cap the numbers to 10 due to the size of the computer lab, permission was granted to start the Coding Club! The boys drafted the permission note, had it approved and distributed on Schools Letterhead to all the year 3 and 4 students explaining the membership limit and that it would operate on a “first-in basis”.  An overwhelming 32 students were interested in the Club and there is now a waitlist in operation.  

The Coding Club commenced in Week 5 (National Science Week) and in the coming weeks will look into exploring what Scratch is, the commands needed, using blocks to create code and develop some projects and collaborate together. In future weeks, students will be encouraged to write their own code to develop Scratch extensions using ScratchX.

Sebastian and Kanj’s tips for Scratch are – try to create code for what you want or look at existing projects and think about remixing them.  So far they have created a Clock and a Chat system in Scratch. They have also used Scratch for school assignments and presentations.  Sebastian hopes to be a Coder when he grows up and a “part time Minecraft YouTuber” - we can’t wait to hear more about the projects created and wish you all an interactive time.

Well done Kanj and Sebastian on your great initiative!

 Green Team Update - Fight for Planet A

Two years ago, the ABC brought us The War on Waste. The documentary series highlighted ways we can all reduce our carbon footprint (aka our carbon emissions). The show highlighted the impact of some of our everyday actions and challenged us to swap out some of our habits - like swapping non- recyclable disposable coffee cups for reusable keep cups. Small changes that can add up to big impacts.

The ABC now has a new series called Fight for Planet A, a three-part documentary to ‘empower and motivate Australians to take action on climate change’ which you can watch on Tuesday at 8:30 or on ABC IView (rated PG).

As part of National Science Week, the ABC have also produced a Carbon Counter and a challenge the whole family can sign up to -

https://fightforplaneta.abc.net.au/carboncounter/. The Carbon Counter shows you how small changes to everyday actions can make big impacts on our carbon footprint.

There are so many small ways we can reduce our carbon footprint. Cutting your daily shower from eight minutes to four minutes saves up to 350 kilograms of CO2 a year. Swapping out 7 loads of warm or hot laundry wash to a cold wash each week would save 110kgs of CO2 each year. Composting our food waste can save 338 kgs of CO2 each year.

Check out the Carbon Counter and take up the challenge. Together we can make a difference.

Contact us at: phpsgreenteam@gmail.com

The Annual Strings Soiree is happening online this year via Zoom. Please feel free to join us as the kids and families of the String Ensemble perform pieces of their choice!

Our next P&C Meeting is next Tuesday 1 September at 7.30 pm by Zoom. Link details in next week’s newsletter.

please subscribe at the following link: http://eepurl.com/dlK3PD

Andrew Passé-de Silva

President, PHPS P&C

pandcpresident@gmail.com

0410 653 878

Thank-you all for your patience with us while we are figuring out this latest change in restrictions due to COVID-19. 

After consultation with the school, the committee and conductors have come up with a novel idea in order to keep students practicing as groups on-site. We believe the approach below will really help the students as a band and provide a much more fun and fulfilling experience than Zoom based rehearsals.

As of this week (week 6) students can return to rehearsals on-site in the groups which they have been attending during the first half of the term. For those students in ICB, everyone can attend each week except for the year 5 & 6 students in ICB who will be contacted separately. However, students do NOT need to bring their normal instruments (unless they are a percussionist) but please bring your band music. At rehearsals we will be letting all wind instrument players use a set of drumsticks and we will be conducting drumming and percussion workshops with the students. They will be working on rhythm techniques and possibly also some "African drumming" pieces. 

Students should prioritise practicing their normal band pieces on their regular instruments at home and during their private lessons with their tutors, and all band parts and audio tracks will be available on Google Classroom and/or via email if required. 

If you are concerned about rehearsals returning on-site in this manner feel free to keep your child at home for their rehearsal time which can be used to practice on their band music pieces.

Rehearsals for this week:

Monday afternoon: SCB Group 2

Wednesday morning: ICB Everyone

Thursday Morning: JB/SCB Group 1

Friday Morning: TB Group 2

Benefits of Music - part 2

Learning music early can make your child a better reader! Neuroscience has found a clear relationship between music and language acquisition. Put simply, learning music in the early years of schooling can help children learn to read.

Read the whole article here: https://theconversation.com/learning-music-early-can-make-your-child-a-better-reader-106066

Registration 

Thinking about joining a band in 2021? Entry to the PHPS Band Program is open to all children from Year 3 to Year 6. We are also keen to hear from talented piano players who may be interested in playing in the Jazz band next year. Just drop us an email and we will be happy to talk to you about it.

Parent Helpers

Big thank you to all our parent helpers so far this term. As per the changes above, those parents who had put their name down for being a parent helper later this term are back on duty. If there are any free spots in the doodle polls, please fill them in accordingly.

Worksheets

Please continue to work through the band worksheets and send any completed sheets through to phpsband+worksheets@gmail.com     

Many thanks,

Band Committee.

phpsband@gmail.com

String Soiree 

Our annual string soiree will be happening virtually this year, this Saturday, August 29th. 

Some details for the performers: 

• Drop off: 2:15 pm
• Concert starts: 3pm
• Pick up: 5pm
• Dress Code: Smart casual - something you feel good performing in
• Bring: instrument, music, water bottle, snacks (no sharing and no nuts)

Zoom details for the audience will be published by email and facebook.  

Rehearsals 

The upcoming rehearsals are:

• Tuesday 3:30pm - 5:15pm August 25. Parent helper Piy
• Tuesday 3:30pm - 5:15pm September 1. Parent helper Jade

Note that the full ensemble will finish rehearsals at 4:25pm, and senior ensemble finish at 5:15pm. 

Parent Helpers

Thank you to all the volunteers - our Term 3 roster is now full.  

Term 4 spots are open already if you want to book early:

https://doodle.com/poll/cy68d5dkuw3bvufm

The parent helper responsibilities are detailed here:

http://www.phpspandc.org.au/string-ensemble/parent-helpers/

Registrations

Thinking about joining strings? 

We welcome students who have completed a full term of lessons.

Registrations are open all year round. 

You can register online here: https://forms.gle/L2nrW66LkJTgEAsE6

PHPS String Ensemble

Website: http://www.phpspandc.org.au/string-ensemble/

Feedback: http://www.phpspandc.org.au/string-ensemble/contact-us/

Scholastic Book Club – Issue 6 

Issue 6 catalogues will be distributed to the students this week.  To order from the Book Club catalogue you will need to go to the Scholastic Book Club LOOP website page, register your details if you haven’t already done so and pay by credit card. 

The catalogue can be viewed online at https://www.scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-parents/.

How do I order?

1. Go to the Scholastic Book Club LOOP website to register your details. You will need to enter your name, email address and a password. Click on “Add new child” and using the drop down menu locate our school and your child’s class. If you have children on both sites you may decide to register and place your entire order just with one child to save time.
2. Enter your child’s first name and their surname initial. Please note that Scholastic does not share student details with third parties or use this information for marketing purposes. This information is for distribution when the order arrives at the school.
3. Click on “ORDER” and enter the item number from the Book Club catalogue. Follow the prompts to finalise payment using a credit card.
4. All orders are processed after the closing date and delivered to the school for distribution.

The closing date for online orders is Wednesday 2 September.

Thank You

Kind Regards

Ms Gai Davis

Teacher Librarian

0425 274 681

canteenphps@gmail.com

UNIFORM SHOP

New Operating Protocols

At this stage the Uniform Shop will remain closed for over the counter sales during Term 3. Uniform orders can be placed online through Flexischools or alternatively download an order form from the school website.

Please note that all orders will be delivered to the students’ classroom.

If you have an item that you need to exchange for another size please contact the Uniform Shop on the email address below. 

Please note that all items to be exchanged must be unworn, in original condition with packaging and tags intact. There is no exchange on socks, tights or briefs.

Second Hand Uniforms

If you require second hand uniforms, please contact me on the email address below, so that I can check what stock is on hand in the second hand clothing pool.

Kindergarten T-Towels

Kindergarten parents please note that orders for the commemorative t-towels are due this Friday 28 August. The t-towels can be ordered via Flexischools, but prices will include the Flexischools’ surcharge.

Sports Uniform

Size 8, 10 and 12 polos and size 10, 12 and 14 shorts have now sold out. Unfortunately, due to delays in the manufacturing process, new stock will now not arrive until the end of August. Again, I apologise for any inconvenience caused by these stock shortages.

Dr Shoe

Dr Shoe will not be attending the Uniform Shop in the foreseeable future however Max can be contacted direct on 0414 912 838 to arrange a home fitting.

Ordering Uniforms

Uniform shop opening hours have been suspended. Uniforms can be ordered by completing an order form and together with payment of cash, cheque or card details handed in at either office.  Orders will be filled and delivered to the students’ classrooms. A combined pricelist and order form can be downloaded from the school website by following the links to ‘Our School’ and ‘What We Offer.’ Uniforms can also be ordered online through Flexischools, however prices will include a Flexischools surcharge.

Please note that uniform orders cannot be paid via the school online payment service.

Order forms are available on the school website by following the link:

https://pennanthil-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/p/pennanthil-p/supporting-our-students/Uniform_price_list_and_order_form_term_2_2020.pdf

Alison Parker

Uniform Shop Manager

phpsuniformshop@gmail.com